


His Voice

by QuinSeparable



Category: Code Lyoko, Code Lyoko Evolution
Genre: Angst, Episode Spoilers, Gen, codeless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-08
Updated: 2013-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-08 14:39:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/762500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuinSeparable/pseuds/QuinSeparable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were so many thoughts floating around his head. No one understood what he was going through. Even though they said he belonged, he wasn't sure he believed them. How would he cope, especially with his worst enemy trying to poison his thoughts?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This takes place during the "Code Lyoko: Evolution" episode "Codeless". There are massive spoilers inside so if you don't want to be spoiled, please don't read this...at least not until AFTER you've seen that episode. Credit for the French-English translation goes to sandra-martins on Tumblr.

If there was something William Dunbar didn’t like it was to be treated as though he didn’t exist. He had had enough of that from before – before he joined the group, before he had proven himself a capable warrior, and before he gained their trust. They had accepted him finally. He belonged to the group. But why did he still feel like such an outsider? They accepted him, they trusted him, but something wasn’t right. 

Yumi. Plain and simple. Well… perhaps it wasn’t all plain and simple. Yumi wasn’t the problem. It was her actions, William realized, that was causing this discomfort within him; the unsure thoughts of whether or not he truly belonged in the group. Yet the more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that his blame was more than likely misplaced. Blaming Yumi was too easy. It wasn’t her. It was him and all his insecurities. It was the knowledge that she would never be interested in dating him. Ever. Her heart belonged to Ulrich, not him.

Ever since the incident with the essay she had written, he truly understood what he was up against. Though everything she had said about Ulrich – _Eric_ \- was true, he hadn’t wanted to hear it. They fought. To be honest, it was the worst fight between the two of them that William had ever seen. But after Yumi purposely let herself get devirtualized by a Ninja, it became evident how much they cared for each other. That was never going to change. 

As he sat down on the bench – their bench – he gave a half-hearted chuckle though he found nothing funny about the situation. _Unrequited love…doesn’t this just suck?_ He loved Yumi. It wasn’t just a crush or some random fling. No. He honestly and truly loved her. He could see spending the rest of his life with her. He _wanted_ to do that. In the couple of years that they had been friends he could think of no one else he’d rather date. No one else even came close to her.

Even amidst the clutches of XANA it was the thought of her that kept him going. It was only her that gave him the strength on a couple of occasions to break free of XANA’s grasp, even if it were only for a few seconds. She was the only one that kept him fighting the A.I.’s control every step of the way. Now, sometimes it felt like she could care less about him.

Of course he knew that that wasn’t true either. It was yet another moment of his insecurities bubbling to the surface. It was a trick his mind was playing on him. Without XANA chirping in his ear about how no one cared for him, his mind had since picked up the slack. It cast all sort of self doubt and self hate into his own thoughts, mixing them up and confusing him. What was worse was that sometimes he thought they were still coming from XANA, a connection that could not be broken. It would take William a second to remember that XANA’s voice and his own voice had blended during his time under the evil program’s control and often times he could no longer tell if it was his own voice or XANA’s that he was hearing. Complete psychological manipulation at its worst. It haunted him even in his current state. He had nightmares about that voice; XANA’s voice. His voice.

Whenever he was alone, the voice seemed to say the most. It never screamed at him, only whispered dark thoughts. It told him that the rest of the group didn’t like him – they didn’t really want him in the group. They just allowed him in to appease him and because, sometimes, they did actually need him. It told him that they weren’t friends, that they didn’t give a damn about him. It constantly scrutinized everything he did, everything he said. It pointed out his flaws and weaknesses. It made him feel guilty. It even had him convinced that the possession was all his fault. Even after talking to Aelita a little about it, and having her reassure him that it could have happened to any of them, that voice told him that it was still his fault. And it went out to point out that the others blamed him for it too. Everyone knew that it was fault. That voice. It was still whispering to him, blaming him, telling him that he was just no good.

William continued just to sit there, drowning in his own thoughts and emotions. He had so many demons and the worst part was that he was starting to lose the battle keeping them at bay. He was going to have to figure out a way to deal with them if he were going to ever be truly happy once more. He wanted to go to the others. Aelita would listen. She would understand and try to help. But he could never bring himself to really talk about it; to talk about what he experienced under XANA’s control. It was not something he wanted to relive. Besides, they believed that he couldn’t remember what happened to him while being controlled. When he was first rescued that was true, he couldn’t, but little by little the pieces fell back into place until he everything. Then, of course, there was that small voice at the back of his mind telling him that he couldn’t ask any of them for help because they’d never ever give it to him. He was on his own.

He cast a quick glance around the courtyard and spied Yumi in the distance. She looked as though she might be heading toward him. Not wanting to have a discussion with her, William reached down into his pocket and grabbed the mobile phone inside. Before she got to him, he turned it on and moved to his messages. He wasn’t ready to talk to her – or any of them - just yet. He wanted his alone time but somehow he realized that it probably was not going to happen for a while. Something was up.

Just the sight of her made his emotions run haywire again. He wanted to watch her, tell her how much he loved her, and how much she meant to him. Yet the other side of him wanted her to leave him alone and not talk to him again. Leave him with his broken heart and unrequited love. That torture he could handle. What was harder was knowing that she didn’t return his feelings and yet he still saw her all of the time. 

She walked up to him and he quickly glanced down at his phone, moving his fingers across the keypad as he pretended to type a text message to an imaginary friend. _Don’t be stupid_ , the voice in the back of his mind whispered menacingly. _She knows that you don’t have any other friends. She knows that they are the only ones who can stand putting up with you for any length of time._ The voice was always there.

Out of the corner of his eye, William saw Yumi sit down beside him on the bench. “XANA launched another attack.”

What did she want him to do about it? Get up and chase after her? It was a statement and, to be honest, he really just didn’t want to go. He continued looking down at his phone, pretending to text that same imaginary person as before. He just wanted to be left alone for that time being. He had too many things to think about. After all, if Ulrich could skip out on a mission because he was sulking, why couldn’t he? He heard a small “phht!” escape his lips but didn’t move his eyes to look up at Yumi.

“Look, I know you won’t enjoy working with me,” Yumi said to him as he continued to look at his phone. “But we have no options.”

Well, that was true. Ulrich and Aelita had already been to Lyoko and Odd was bound and determined as a “codeless” to protect them. Yumi was the only one who could deactivate the tower and he was really the only one who could help her do that. William glanced up and looked at her. There were so many things that he wanted to say to her, and yet at the same time he didn’t want to be anywhere near her. But there she was, sitting in beside him, wanting his help. Before he could say anything, he looked back down at his phone, pretending that he had gotten a text message back.

“I suggest a truce. Just for the time being to take care of it,” Yumi added. William looked back up to her. She hadn’t said anything about the phone so perhaps he had faked it well enough. No. No, she just didn’t care about that. “Okay?” 

She stretched out her hand and waited for him. He made no move toward her or her hand. He really, really just wanted to be left alone for a little while but she was making it downright impossible to do so. After a few seconds of sitting there in silence, he raised his hand up and clasped her own. All the feelings he had about her rushed through him once more. The sensation of her hand clasping his was something that he didn’t want to lose. “Okay,” came his response. His voice was quiet and calm, partially due to his hand in hers and partially because he was reluctantly agreeing to go with her. There was not much else he could do. Whether or not he wanted to, he had to help her. He couldn’t risk the safety of the world because of his own insecurities and demons. Besides, what better way than to get out his frustration than taking it out on XANA – the being that had caused the majority of his problems in the first place?

She withdrew his hand from his and the disappointment welled up once more in his mind. She would never love him like he loved her. Right now he wasn’t even sure if he could be friends with her. For the time being, however, he would have to do his best to push that voice aside and ignore it. Sure, he knew that meant when he tried to go to sleep that night it would come back worse than ever, but he had to do what needed to be done. And he would do that. 

“Come on, let’s get to the factory quickly,” Yumi said as she stood. William merely nodded as he stood up beside her. _No turning back now_ , he thought to himself as she began walking toward the forest. It would be the quickest route to take to the sewers from that spot and also the safest. No one would see them or follow them there.

The walk through the woods was quiet. William didn’t have much to say to Yumi and apparently the feelings were mutual. It was, perhaps, the most awkward time he had ever spent with her barring any interaction under XANA’s control. An occasional “are you coming?” was thrown out every now and then followed by a “yes” from William but otherwise they said nothing to one another. He just didn’t have anything to say to her that wouldn’t affect their friendship in some way or another, or that wouldn’t take a long time to talk explain. And, to be honest, he knew that this was neither the time nor the place for a serious discussion anyway.

Yumi stopped at the entrance to the sewer and glanced around before opening it up. Though not likely, it was possible that someone could have followed them to their secret spot and they didn’t want another Laura on their hands. Satisfied that no one had followed them, Yumi slipped inside out of view. William watched her disappear inside the tunnels and sighed. Two attacks in the span of a couple of hours was a little much and he would have to remember to thank XANA for that later. And what better way to do that than by killing all of his stupid minions? At least that would give him a little satisfaction.

William moved over toward the entrance to the tunnel and slipped inside himself. His feet rested on the ladder as he reached up and slid the entrance closed before climbing down and walking behind Yumi. The tunnel was long and cold, but William didn’t really care about that. Even though he was reluctant at first, all he could think about as he walked through the dark tunnels was getting to Lyoko and kicking some XANA-butt. That always made him feel better.

“I really hope Odd’s idea will work,” he heard Yumi mutter ahead of him. He wasn’t sure if she purposely said it out loud or if it was just a thought that vocalized on its own accord, but William couldn’t help but scoff at it.

“’Codeless protecting the Codefull?’ Yeah right,” he shook his head as he vocalized his own thoughts. “That has to be one of the lamest things I’ve ever heard.”

He didn’t mean for it to come off as harsh as it had sounded, but really the idea of himself, Odd, and Jeremie protecting the others was just dumb. It didn’t even make sense. How could Odd expect to defeat a specter that no longer had any interest in him? He couldn’t provide a distraction or anything because the specter knew that Odd’s codes were gone. What did he expect to do, sing it a lullaby? 

“At least he’s trying,” he heard Yumi mumbled ahead of him but didn’t reply. He was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear that but he did and he felt a stab in his chest. _See, what did I tell you? You can’t do anything right._

He closed his eyes for a moment trying to rid the voice from his mind. _Get out, I can’t deal with you right now_. Immediately William opened his eyes again and moved toward the ladder leading up to the bridge. They’d be in the factory in moments and on Lyoko in no time. It was easier to shut out the sounds of that voice when he was there. Climbing up after Yumi, it only took a couple of seconds to get through it and cross the bridge into the factory. From there, the two of them walked into the elevator. Yumi moved to the far left of the elevator as William walked in behind her and pressed the button. He didn’t even venture to move closer to her. Her body language said it all; she was doing what he wanted and leaving him alone, making for an awkwardly painful elevator ride down to the scanner room.


	2. Chapter 2

The elevator doors opened to the scanner room and William watched as Yumi just about leapt out of the elevator and toward the right scanner. “We’re here Jeremie. Start up the virtualization process.”

“Will do,” Jeremie’s voice came over the speaker. William also walked out of the elevator and toward the scanner on the far left. He walked in and turned so that he was facing Yumi but the girl had her eyes closed, waiting for the process to begin.

“Are you ready?” Jeremie asked over the speaker. Without waiting for an answer, the doors to Yumi’s scanner followed closely by William’s closed, sealing them away from one another. “Transfer: Yumi. Transfer: William.”

William heard the scanner whirl to life and closed his eyes as the machine scanned his entire body, piecing together who he was. It was getting ready to deconstruct his physical body and transfer it into the virtual world. The sensation was bizarre at first but soon William grew used to it. The moment before the process began, adrenaline would surge through his body, preparing him for the battle that would ensue. That rush of his adrenaline was actually the best part of the entire virtualization process and William looked forward to it each and every time, but this time around no surge happened. He really had no excitement about going to Lyoko this time.

“Virtualization.” Jeremie’s voice was just about lost under the sudden burst of air the flooded the scanner. During the actual virtualization everything went blank for William and he assumed for the others as, for a brief second, he no longer existed. But within seconds, he could feel himself being assembled in his virtual form. Once complete, he dropped down beside Yumi who stood up before he did. They had landed in the desert sector. 

“Yumi, I am sending you the Overwing,” Jeremie’s voice echoed from the sky. William ignored the statement and turned away from Yumi. _Let’s get Yumi to the tower to deactivate it. Then we can go home. If I can fight a couple of XANA’s pathetic monsters then so be it, but I just really want to be alone._

He could hear the familiar sound of something being virtualized behind him and he guessed it was Yumi’s Overwing but he didn’t turn around to confirm that’s what he heard. If it wasn’t, he would know soon enough. 

“I’ll give you the tower’s coordinates in a few seconds.”

Great. More waiting. William didn’t bother to glance back at Yumi but heard her move around. He looked out at the landscape of the desert sector. So many memories flooded his mind. The first time he had seen this sector had been under XANA’s control. Well, there was nothing there actually but the digital sea. It hadn’t been recreated yet. XANA had virtualized him back to earth and convinced the others that he was freed. Instead, though XANA used him to capture Aelita and to try to push her into the digital sea. The sector had not been reconstructed so all there had been was a yellowish-orange sky and the digital sea.

The first time he saw it reconstructed had actually been the first time that he had broken free of XANA’s influence. Yumi was there and, as XANA was trying to push her into the digital sea, William managed to break free of the A.I.’s control for a brief second. He had been so hopeful then, convinced he could make the girl he loved see that it had not been him who was causing all this harm but rather XANA.

But she hadn’t seen and XANA used his voice to start the psychological torture on his psyche after they had fallen into the digital sea. He pointed out how Yumi had said that he, _William_ was trying to push her into the crashing waves, not XANA. And he never let him forget it. It was the start of the mental struggle William had to face every moment of his existence. He glanced back at the girl behind him as that memory stuck in his mind. She was standing there, looking at him. 

“You know, it’s not easy trying to understand you William.” Yumi’s voice trailed behind him. He quickly turned back around, not wanting to engage in conversation. The memory of that first interaction with her in the desert sector was fresh in his mind. Normally the desert would not have brought back all these thoughts and emotions, but because of his current mental state it was taking its toll on him.

“One day you insist on joining the group and the next one you send us all packing.”

William moved his head slightly to try to glance back at her using only his peripheral vision. She was sitting down on the Overwing, waiting for an answer from either himself or Jeremie. Before she can catch him looking at her again, however, he moves his eyes forward, ahead of him, trying to block her out.

“Why? Is it because of me?”

For some reason those words struck William. Yes, partially it was. But in the grand scheme of things, no she wasn’t the reason. At least not a large reason for his problems. He didn’t even know who or what was to blame. Maybe it was her, but then again it seemed more likely that he himself and XANA were the more likely causes. He was getting ready to say something to her when Jeremie, fortunately or unfortunately, cut him off.

“Alright, got them. Go west, through the dunes.”

Even though Jeremie wasn’t finished speaking yet, as soon as the word “west” was heard, Yumi jumped up onto the Overwing and revved the engine before taking off without even a word to William. In fact, William had to shield himself from the pixilated “dust” that the Overwing kicked up when it sped off, leaving him behind. Again. But, he realized, now was not the time to let his demons rear their ugly heads. He had a job to do and, despite how he was feeling, he was going to do it right.

Turning his thoughts to his powers, he felt himself shrink quickly into smoke. Supersmoke. It was a strange power, but so very useful. XANA had given it to him when he possessed him but somehow William was still able to access it. He wasn’t going to complain; after all it was a great power. He could move so quickly and, despite the fact that Yumi had a head start on her Overwing, he caught up to her in no time. 

Seeing was difficult when he was in smoke form, but the smoke around him allowed him to see Lyoko through a broken and bent lense. He could see but not as clearly as he could if he were himself. 

William could hear Jeremie talking but his voice was distant as if he were not talking to he and Yumi directly. After a second of listening, he discovered that Jeremie was not talking to the two virtualized Lyoko Warriors, just like he had assumed. He was talking about Odd. From the bit of conversation he bothered to listen to he guessed that Odd was calling to ask about the specter’s appearance. William honestly didn’t care what the specter looked like. They were going to get to the tower and deactivate it soon anyway.

However, he noticed a shift in his vision. Yumi had slowed and before he realized it, she had stopped. William slowed as he inadvertently rushed passed her before turning back around and popping up out of the smoke. She was already off her Overwing and William couldn’t help but look puzzled. 

“Why did you stop?” he asked. They were wasting time stopping when the tower loomed on the horizon. What was wrong?

“I needed to check our course. Moreover, I don’t like this place. It’s way too quiet…”

Quiet, yes. But that was only because there were no monsters on the horizon. The view was fairly open with the only rock formations to block their view were off to the side, away from the tower. _I guess if there are monsters they’d be hiding there, but I can’t see anything. Besides, from up here and at this angle, we’d see anything moving around in there. There’s nothing._

Yumi was being ridiculous and perhaps a little overly paranoid. “Are you kidding me?” he couldn’t help but ask. “There are no creatures for a thousand miles around!” 

As if to completely screw over his statement, a laser blast rushed past his face, nearly hitting him. William flung his head back in surprise. So much for that statement and, once again, he looked like a complete idiot. _Stupid, stupid, stupid…_

The source of the blast had to be at the base of the cliff in which he and Yumi were standing on. That would account, also, for the fact that he hadn’t seen the attacker. He never looked directly down at the bottom of the rock formation that they were standing on; he hadn’t checked there. As he glanced down, he saw small little Kankrelots walking up the side of the cliff. William had to duck backward to avoid more blasts to the face. He knew what he had to do and just as he saw Yumi throw out her fans at some Kankrelots they reached the top of the cliff, he supersmoked down toward the rest. He wanted to see how many there were and, luckily, though definitely more than just a few, the group was fairly small in comparison. Six maybe seven of them. He wasn’t entirely sure but couldn’t be bothered to find out. All he needed was a general idea of how many there were.

He turned as Yumi destroyed some more of the tiny monsters and took himself – still within the smoke – back to the top of the cliff, appearing to the side of Yumi. A Kankrelot had the girl in its sight and fired at her, missing her by mere inches. It caught her attention though. The monster moved back and forth, trying to get a clear shot on her as she turned toward it but before she could do anything, William smashed his sword into the monster. It exploded. He didn’t have time to celebrate even that small victory as a stinging pain came from his shoulder, throwing him momentarily off balance. He turned and glanced to see that a Kankrelot had climbed on a rock formation that put the tiny little monsters at equal height to William and Yumi.

_I have to give it to them, they are persistent, but they are complete idiots_! William thought as, after barely taking a step toward them, he swung his sword to obliterate the monster. He heard Yumi beside him as she threw out her fans once more. She didn’t see that Kankrelot to her left as it disappeared behind a rock. It was going for a surprise attack and she couldn’t afford to lose any life points. She was the only one who could deactivate the tower.

He didn’t think but perhaps he should have. Before he even realized what he was doing, his reflexes had him throw his large sword toward the Kankrelot as it came over the top of the rock. Yumi was caught completely unaware by both the monster and William’s actions. William trusted him aim completely, but realized after the sword left his hand that if she moved forward even an inch it could possibly be all over. Fortunately, William also knew that Yumi’s reflexes were just as good – if not better – than his own. She moved her head backward as the large sword passed in front of her face and struck the Kankrelots dead center. It exploded as the sword embedded itself into the rock. William cast a quick glance at Yumi, waiting for her to scold him for being “careless”. Yes, perhaps that was a stupid stunt to pull; in fact he realized how lucky he had been that she saw the sword coming and backed away. He waited for her to yell at him but it never came. He looked over at her only to see that she was staring at the sword in complete and utter shock. In fact she had been so stunned that she had yet to put her fans away despite the fact that all the Kankrelots had been destroyed.

She still said nothing as William moved out of his spot and toward his sword still stuck in the stone. The Kankrelots were all gone; XANA’s easiest monster to defeat. Sure he had sent in a small group but they were already done fighting them? Something seemed off.

“You know what? That was really too easy.”

He could feel Yumi’s eyes burning into his back as he reached his sword and pulled it out of the rock with ease. He couldn’t blame her; that was a stupid stunt to pull. But he pulled it and no one got hurt. It was time to move on. They could fight and argue about it all they wanted but that would only serve as a distraction and at that moment, they couldn’t afford it. Once out he rested the large sword on his shoulder, not wanting to bother getting rid of it for the time being. Something wasn’t right; Yumi knew it and William should have paid attention. Having the sword ready was going to be important, he just knew it.


	3. Chapter 3

William avoided Yumi’s gaze, sure that it was going to be full of anger after that stunt with his sword. Instead he glanced out at the landscape and walked toward the edge to check whether or not the coast was clear. Before he even got close to the edge he saw them; two Krabes strolling toward the rock formation that they were standing on. Great. He backed away from the edge trying to get out of view, but he knew that the attempt was in vain. The big crustaceans already knew where he and Yumi were at.

“We need to take cover,” he said. He heard a noise behind him and he turned to glance at the source of the sound only to see Yumi ride behind him already on the Overwing.

“Okay, here we go.” Before William could say anything else, Yumi sped off in her vehicle toward the edge of the cliff. William couldn’t help but smirk when he realized what she was going to do. He took off running toward the edge of the cliff and before he could stop himself, he launched himself from the edge just as Yumi was passing by. Her arm was outstretched and caught his own outstretched hand in hers, pulling him up behind her. William was thoroughly impressed with her strength. Though he knew he could have used supersmoke, he took the ride on the Overwing instead. It was the first time he had ridden alongside her on Lyoko and, despite the conflicted thoughts in his head, it felt….nice.

Of course, the feeling was only momentary when laser blasts came from behind them. William cast a quick glance backward and saw that the Krabes had already gotten to the top of the cliff and had shot a few more blasts at them. Yumi dodged the blasts, though it couldn’t have been very difficult, William mused. They were terrible shots anyway. William looked forward and saw a clump of flats rocks. He was about to open his mouth to point them out to Yumi only to realize that she was already ahead of him. She piloted the Overwing down behind them. Immediately both of them jumped off the vehicle and ducked behind one of the flat rocks nearest to them. He heard the blasts from the Krabes hitting the rocks that they were using as shields.

Yumi was the first one to try to sneak a peek at what was going on. She popped her head over the small rock to look. William followed suit, wanting to know what exactly they were up against. He saw that the Krabes had walked down off the side of the cliff and were moving toward them.

“No. They won’t leave us alone!”

William heard the frustration in her voice. She wanted to get to the tower just as much – if not more than – he did. Ulrich was in danger so he was pretty sure that was weighing on her mind judging by the recent talk that the two of them had with one another. William didn’t know what it contained but he did know that they had been better friends than ever before afterward. A twinge of jealousy shot through him but he ignored it.

“We just need to be smarter than them.” It sounded so simple and really, it was. Though smarter than Kankrelots, Krabes still weren’t all that bright. None of XANA’s monsters really were. An idea began to form in his head and he ducked back down behind the rock. Seconds later, Yumi did as well. He was about to relay his idea to her when the two of them heard Jeremie speaking. It didn’t take long to realize he was talking to Odd.

“Odd?....What?!”

_Well, that doesn’t sound good,_ William thought. He cast a quick glance at Yumi and assumed she was thinking the same thing. Quickly he turned away and moved to glance around the rock. The Krabes were closing in on them.

“William, Yumi. Odd’s plan didn’t work out. You need to quickly deactivate the tower.”

What a surprise. He moved back behind the rock and looked at Yumi. Hadn’t he already said it? That Odd’s plan was dumb? “It was obvious that his plan was lame.”

It was as if Yumi wasn’t listening to him. Yet another surprise. No one seemed to listen to him really. Of course maybe she was just ignoring the fact that he was being rude in his moody-ness. 

“We should try to set a trap for them.” Yumi said without a response to William’s last statement. It was probably for the best. It was neither the time for that nor was it a nice thing to say. His bad mood was really letting his rudeness shine through; and that was definitely not something that he wanted or needed.

“Okay. Since I’m faster, I’ll lure them and you will strike them in the back.” William said. They were just about on the same wavelength. It had been his plan and he was glad that she was thinking in about the same terms as he was.

“Faster? Are you joking?” he heard Yumi ask. He didn’t give her a response. Was she going to argue that point when it was definitely true? In supersmoke form, he could easily catch up and pass her while she ran on foot. Heck, he could even catch up to and pass her while she was riding the Overwing. Why was she going to try to argue that point? Was it because he came up with the plan and not her? 

He didn’t wait for her to object and instead turned to smoke and snaked out from behind the rocks. The Krabes saw him and, just as he’d hoped, they followed him. He was the first moving enemy they saw so they both followed. Stupid monsters. He figured XANA would have programmed some intelligence into them after all that time. Luckily though he hadn’t. This would be a piece of cake. Seconds later, he heard them explode and immediately he came up out of his supersmoke form just in time to see Yumi catch her fans. 

“I hit the bull’s eye!” she exclaimed, though William was unsure as to why she sounded excited. She was deadly with those fans. “And you didn’t want to team up…”

Ouch. For some reason that phrase hurt more than it should have. In fact, he doubted that Yumi even meant to say it in any tone other than a joking one. But the truth of the matter was that he did not want to team up with her – or anyone – this time around. But he let the feeling pass as he walked up to her, allowing his sword to disappear around him in a cloud of smoke.

“Okay, now let’s run to the tower.” 

He saw Yumi jump up on her Overwing as he transformed once again into smoke. He was right, he realized as the two of them moved through the open plain of the desert. He could overtake the Overwing if he wanted to, but Yumi’s vehicle was still going at a nice speed. The tower loomed in front of them. As long as no other monsters showed their faces, Yumi would be able to deactivate that tower in no time.

Jeremie must have been on the phone again, William realized after a few seconds of hearing him talking, sounding as though he were in the distance. Odd must have been on the phone.

“Relax Odd. Things are getting better. Yumi and William are almost there.” Pause. “Come on.”

He was speaking kindly to the boy on the other line. Was Odd upset because he couldn’t protect Ulrich and Aeltia? He was pretty aggravated when he lured them into the gym and tried to capture them with the net. Odd had pointed out how easily they had been caught and that had frustrated William to no avail. Was that another shot at being captured by the Schyphozoa? William couldn’t take it – a “rookie mistake” as it had been called – and he was sick of that being brought up, intentionally or unintentionally. The phrase had brought up painful memories that he would rather erase. So instead of dealing with Odd, he just stormed out of the gym leaving all of them to deal with Odd.

Beside him, he noticed Yumi slow and stop the Overwing. William didn’t understand why at first but likewise did the same. She stared off toward the tower but William was completely confused. He hadn’t noticed another monster.

“Why are we stopping this time?” he asked. She only pointed toward the tower and, slightly annoyed, he followed her gaze and glanced at the tower. That’s when he saw him. 

“Jeremie, there’s something strange happening here.” he heard Yumi say beside him but he couldn’t take his eyes off the sight in front of him. 

Literally, he saw himself standing there in front of the tower. There were slight differences, of course to the clone standing in front of him. The normally orange parts of William’s jumpsuit were reflected in a green color and the clone’s skin was much lighter than his own. Then, of course, there was the large symbol of XANA on his forehead visible even as far back as he and Yumi were standing. What sort of sick, twisted joke was this?

“It’s crazy,” Yumi said beside him. “There’s another William.”

He couldn’t take his eyes away from the sight in front of him. It was a mix of both shock and anger. Was he really seeing this and, if he was, how could this be?

“William?” Yumi’s voice was growing distant as the clone made eye contact with William. “William!” she shouted but still he didn’t move. 

“Eh, what do you mean?” Einstein’s voice echoed across the desert plains but it received no answer from either himself or from Yumi.

“Welcome home, William.”

The voice – his own. The one that said those awful things to him while being held prisoner; that voice that became his own once he was freed. It was so wrong. He could see a sinister smile play on the clone’s face but all William could do was stare at him, his mouth dangling open. That voice…no. This couldn’t be happening.

Instead of responding William noticed Yumi walk toward the clone William. He wanted to tell her to stay back; to stop but he just couldn’t do it. Something kept his mouth closed. He did see her staff virtualize in her hand and, as soon as it had, she clasped it and ran toward the clone. William saw her take a swing at the clone and saw the clone merely sidestep her attack. He couldn’t help but wince as the clone William balled up his fist and cold-cocked her right in the face. The impact was strong enough to send her flying away from him and sending her staff in the opposite direction. It had to have hurt because she didn’t get up right away. The clone walked up toward her and paused a moment to look down at her with disdain before focusing his attention on William. 

“Be careful Yumi. You lost half of your life points.”

Yes, that punch was pretty strong. It had to have been to make her lose so many life points. But still William did not move toward her and instead only watched as the clone approached him.

“I’m fine,” he heard Yumi say in reply, but he could no longer see her. The clone blocked her out.

“No that’s not fine. You’re the only one able to deactivate the tower.” Jeremie scolded back at her.

William stopped listening. If anything else was said in the exchange between Yumi and Jeremie, he didn’t hear it. The William clone moved closer and closer to him, a smirk on his face. William was uneasy but didn’t move. The voice.

“I’m glad you and your friend came here,” the other William said as he circled behind the still motionless William. William moved his eyes to watch the clone but otherwise didn’t move. “Now I can have some fun, I needed it. I was getting bored.”

Fun. This was going to be a game? _Alright, I can play this game_ , he thought to himself. Though he could play he didn’t want to. Coming to Lyoko had been a mistake. XANA’s fun was not going to be pretty nor fun for anyone else involved. But he said nothing. Why? He had no idea. Perhaps it was a by-product of his possession. William learned quickly under XANA’s control to keep his mouth shut and try to ignore him. It never worked, of course. The psychological warfare he endured when he kept his mouth shut was just as bad as when he spoke out against the demonic A.I. Why would this time be any different?

“Tell me, William, why didn’t you defend your friend?”

The answer there wasn’t clear. Why didn’t he go to Yumi’s aid when he had the chance? Because of XANA’s influence over his life for all those long months? The few times he had broken out of XANA’s control to try to help her had resulted in waves of verbal abuse. At first he could resist it, but as time went on he came closer and closer to the breaking point – the point in which he no longer resisted and lost. 

“Yet I sense you have some feelings for this girl.”

_You know damn well that I do_ , William thought bitterly to himself. XANA knew it and exploited that weakness time and time again. Yumi passed beside the clone and William cast a quick glance as she walked behind him and stopped there. He could see her glaring at the clone, holding her arm. Had she gotten hurt?

“You didn’t defend her because you feel betrayed.”

Well, part of it was true. He did feel betrayed. It was the reason for his actions in the past couple of hours. The group had betrayed him – and thinking back to it he realized that Yumi had most of all. She was against him from joining the Lyoko Warriors to begin with and even threatened him about screwing up. She had taken the longest to convince that he was a good guy again when he was clearly no longer under XANA’s influence and it seemed that only just recently she could carry on a conversation with him without disdain showing on her face. Whether or not she still felt that had yet to be determined. 

“Deceived. Manipulated. And you know I’m right.”

The clone began walking at him again, his words taking a second to sink in. The voice was creeping into his thoughts. Part of his brain was screaming at him not to listen, but this voice was drowning it out. He was right. They were only using him. William closed his eyes as if by doing so it would drown out the conflicting thoughts in his mind. It didn’t seem to work.

“You’re the one left behind.”

Truth. How many times had he been left, not told of an attack? William opened his eyes and moved them to watch the clone walk behind him but otherwise did not move. That statement rang so much truth into his mind. It seemed as though they only let him come along when necessary. He never got to go on “special missions” of just him and someone else unless it was absolutely necessary. The current mission proved that.

“The nice guy, useful for fights…” 

He squeezed his eyes shut. Yes. 

“…But who gets rejected or ignored when he’s no longer needed.”

Everything he had been fighting to hold back came rushing into his mind with those words. It was everything he was experiencing summed up in one sentence. He didn’t belong in the group; they didn’t want him there. They didn’t care about him unless they needed something from him. They weren’t his friends. How wrong he had been to ever think otherwise. The clone was behind him, whispering those thoughts into his head. But how could he know that? How could he understand the pain that William continued to endure?


	4. Chapter 4

“William, stop listening to him!” Yumi’s voice interrupted William’s own thoughts as he listened to the duplicate version of himself. He cast a sideways glance at her as she continued to speak. “He’s trying to trick you. You need to resist. You’re stronger than him.” 

Stronger? He wasn’t stronger. There was nothing about him that was strong. He was weak and unwanted. And now she was trying to tell him what to do, how to think, what to feel. Well she had no idea what it was like to be shunned by the people he thought and considered to be friends. She couldn’t understand…but he could. His eyes moved from Yumi to the clone.

“Here you’re a king. Nothing can hurt you…especially not a girl like her.”

King? Ruler? This place could be his. He could get respect and Lyoko’s virtual landscape didn’t allow for pain. He could be free of that too. The offer was so tempting…  


_Stop it William. It’s that voice again!_

The thought fluttered into his mind and halted the thought process. No. It was his thoughts and no one else’s. It couldn’t be XANA – the A.I. would have no idea of what he was thinking and knew even less about feelings. William closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. He was going insane, that had to be it. Too many thoughts flowed through his mind and he wasn’t sure what was real and what was fake any longer. But if he could lose that pain from that unrequited love…if Yumi would no longer be the cause of the pain, wasn’t it worth it? Wasn’t it?

A pressure on his shoulder caused him to open his eyes; he felt a hand there. Immediately he knew just who that hand belong to. Anger flashed through him as he grabbed Yumi’s hand and threw it off of his shoulder. He didn’t want to be touched by anyone – especially not her. He glanced backward at her to see her shocked expression and her fumble for footing after she stumbled backward. Why couldn’t she leave him alone and stop sending him all of these mixed messages? Wasn’t that the cause of all of this pain? Her head fell and her eyes closed. She must have realized it. He didn’t want her either.

Feeling little remorse, William turned away from her and toward his clone. A smirk was on his face and a flash of unease ran through William’s mind. This wasn’t right. But then again, didn’t it make sense? They never cared for him. They never wanted him around and only agreed to let him come to Lyoko because they no longer could fight alone. They wanted his combat skills and nothing else. How often did he hang out with any of them one-on-one? Yumi often for homework but then wouldn’t she often just walk off and leave him after they were done? Of course, there was Aelita. She seemed to be the only one who cared about him the slightest bit. Then again, she never stood up for him amidst her friends when they were excluding him, and treating him as though he had chosen to side with XANA on his own free will. She could not have thought too highly of him then. 

He and the clone walked away toward the tower. William wasn’t sure why but he followed his clone regardless. It seemed that his other half would be the only one to ever understand him and his situation. He heard footsteps behind him and not long after he heard Yumi begin to speak.

“William, I beg you, I’ve got to deactivate the tower. Aelita and Ulrich need us.”

_Us? No, they don’t need us. Just you. You’re the only one that’s important to them. I’m just the hired help._ The thoughts were bitter in his head and could feel the anger begin to bubble up inside him. No, not one of them “needed” him. They only used him.

“Keep quiet.” William said as he stopped and turned toward Yumi. He didn’t want to hear her lies. Before he realized it, his sword appeared in his hand and he leveled the weapon at Yumi’s throat. Panic flashed in her eyes but, to her credit, she didn’t back down. Even after William jabbed the sword at her she didn’t move. 

“William, don’t do that.”

He shouldn’t. He didn’t want to. All he wanted was for her to leave him alone. Was that so hard to ask?

“Its fine William,” came the clone’s voice, quietly. “Go ahead. She won’t be able to hurt you anymore when she’s far away.”

That offer was so tempting. He was sick of being hurt; not just by her but by everyone. By Odd, Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich and, more importantly, by himself. His thoughts were mostly dark and he couldn’t escape them. And they didn’t help that in the least.

His sword shifted and he glanced toward Yumi to see that while he was thinking, she had pushed it away from her throat. “Don’t listen to him. He’s only interested in our codes. He doesn’t care about you!”

_He doesn’t care?! What about you? All you care about are those damn codes and nothing else. You care about you and your friends, not me. You’re only saying those things to manipulate me into helping you. You don’t care about me. You never have and you never will._

Why those thoughts weren’t transferred into spoken word, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was with that statement, his anger had reached a boiling point. She had no idea what he was struggling with. At least his clone knew; he understood and he cared. Yumi never once asked him how he fared after being under XANA’s control for so long. She didn’t care. None of them did and they never would. 

William said nothing, merely watched as Yumi took a step back. She was getting ready to leave him, he could see it. He took a step toward her and it was confirmed. He watched as she turned and ran for a rock formation ahead of them. William continued to walk forward and could hear his clone behind him do the same.

“See? She’s abandoning you once again.”

It was true. She was leaving him with XANA again. It was just like it was back when he was possessed. They left always left him in a weakened state to fight against XANA alone. Why would this be any different? They didn’t care…they never cared…

Yumi’s form disappeared into the rocks but William knew they’d find her. Two against one and William had already proven that supersmoke was far faster than she was. It wouldn’t be all that hard. What they were going to do with her once they had her, William wasn’t sure but he had a good idea. Devirtualizing her, getting her away from him. It would be alright. If he couldn’t see or hear her he wouldn’t have to think about her and in the virtual world, he wouldn’t feel the pain that he had been living with for months.

From above, William could hear Jeremie again and it sounded as though he was once again on the phone with Odd. Sure, everyone came to his beckoning call when he was sad, but not one of them cared when William was fighting off his own demons. That seemed fair right? William didn’t even bother to listen and instead he and his clone began to run into the rock formation. She was in there somewhere.

“Yumi, do you hear me? Yumi!”

She was trying to sneak around. Well with Jeremie’s bellowing it wouldn’t help her much. He listened for her answer; she would answer. It didn’t take long either.

“Yes I can year you. But William – the real one I mean – is after me.”

He pinpointed her location. It wasn’t that hard; she didn’t even try to lower her voice. _Sloppy Miss Ishiyama. Very sloppy indeed._ William saw the clearing on the other side of the large bolder he was behind and walked around it. He saw her look around it and immediately tried to back away from him.

“No William!”

He wasn’t listening as he walked toward her. He felt the weight of his sword in his hand and watched as she continued to back away from him. Just like she used to when he was under XANA’s control. She never saw a difference between them. In her mind – just like everyone else’s – he and XANA were one person. They never saw differently.

“William listen to me. If you do that XANA wins and we lose everything.”

Jeremie’s disembodied voice echoed across the sky but he tried not to listen. He wasn’t trying to help XANA – he just wanted the pain to stop. But of course they didn’t understand that. In their eyes he was still their enemy and nothing would ever change that. 

Yumi hit the rock and glanced around. William could see the panic in her eyes. She was afraid of him? But he didn’t want her to be afraid of him. He just wanted her to understand what he was feeling and thinking. He just wanted her to realize what he was going through still. William heard the supersmoke behind him and his clone come up out of it, but did not turn toward him. 

“Do you hear me?”

Instead of answering Jeremie, William cast a glance to the clone behind him. He just wanted to be understood and the only one who seemed capable of that was himself. No one else. 

“It’s time to finish this, my friend.”

It was time to finish it. This was getting old quickly. William looked back at Yumi just in time to see her run away from the two of them. It only took a glance for William to know what to do. He chased after her, following her in the direction she ran off while his clone went in the opposite. She wouldn’t be able to stay away from the two of them for too long.

William watched as she ran into a patch of tall, thin rocks. There was nothing much to hide behind in there. He would have a relatively easy time finding her. He watched as she ran past a large bolder and stopped when he himself got into the same spot. He could end this quicker if he needed to by cutting her off. Instead of following behind her, this time he veered off to his left in an attempt to cut her off. Jeremie continued to speak.

“You’re part of the team, William.”

Team? What team? They didn’t care. They only wanted him around when they needed him. William continued to run around, glancing in between rocks, looking for her.

“Whether you want it or not, we’re one.”

He caught a glimpse of her. The chase was beginning to wear her out.

“Even if it is difficult sometimes, you have never let us down.”

She would be easy to catch.

“Please think about this.”

_I am,_ he thought. _Trust me, I am._

“You’re our friend.”

_Friend?_

“My friend.”

Jeremie never called him a friend before. Did he mean it or was he just saying it? Was he just trying to manipulate William into doing what he wanted him to do, or was he being sincere? William saw his clone appear in front of Yumi. 

_Friend?_

_Their friend?_

Yumi turned to run away from his clone, but William saw and blocked her exit. He walked toward her and she was trapped between them.

Trapped? Yumi? 

_What the hell am I doing?! Trapping her?_ His teammate? His…friend? What was the matter with him? William cast a quick glance at his counterpart and saw once more the huge XANA symbol on his forehead. XANA. Of course. The voice. It was in his head still, mocking him, making him think it was his voice. But it wasn’t. It was XANA’s. It had always been XANA’s.

Yumi continued to back away from William and gasped. The panic and fear was very evident on her face. She was afraid of him. That’s not what he wanted; he never wanted that. He loved her, why on earth would he want her to fear him?

“It’s time to choose your side. Set the real William free.”

The XANA-William was right. It was time to choose a side. And it was time to be free – free of the voice that told him he was no good; that he was worthless and that no one wanted him. It was time to free himself of the voice that tried to turn him against his friends. It was time!

“You’re right,” William said, holding up his sword. His eyes stayed on Yumi but they weren’t meant for her. She didn’t know that…yet. But soon she would. “I have to make a choice. It’s time to take care of you!”


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as the words left his mouth, William dived into his supersmoke racing in Yumi’s direction. XANA was right. The choice had to be made and he wasn’t about to make the wrong one. A moment of terror flashed through Yumi’s eyes as she attempted to duck away from his attack. She hadn’t realized at that moment that she was not his intended target. Had he actually been after her, it would have failed, but William had someone else in mind for the attack.

William appeared out of the supersmoke in time to run into the XANA-William clone, his sword in hand. The evil clone fell to the ground with the unexpected attack as William’s sword rested behind his neck. He put his foot on him, holding him down for a second as he turned to face the completely stunned Yumi.

“Yumi, run to the tower, quick!”

It seemed as though William’s order stunned her for a bit longer but after a second of standing there in stunned silence, Yumi turned and ran in the direction of the tower. William gritted his teeth and turned back to his clone; the one that had almost convinced him to turn against his friends. He wasn’t going to let that happen again. However, before he turned all the way around, the clone’s fist met his face and sent him flying through the air. William groaned as he landed hard on his back, his sword falling out of arm’s reach. No wonder Yumi had lost so many life points…even digital he realized that there was still a slight bout of pain that went along with it. He had to give it to XANA…he had one heck of a right hook! Not a word was spoken as, while William laid there a moment stunned, XANA walked up to him and pointed his sword at William’s throat. The silence was eerie as XANA looked down at him, the stunned look replaced by that evil and vile smirk. The clone shook his head slightly and looked up in the direction Yumi had run off. William knew that look; the look that said that XANA had more important matters to deal with at the current moment, but he would be back to take care of William when he could.

Too bad that wasn’t going to happen. William saw his evil clone take a few steps away from before using his supersmoke to race toward Yumi. The girl wouldn’t stand a chance at running away from him. His supersmoke power made him far too fast to outrun. But William had the same power and he could stop himself. That’s what he was going to do. With a groan, William got to his feet. 

_I’m not going to make this same mistake again. I’m going to help her and I’m going to show her that they didn’t make a mistake giving me a second chance._

He took a couple of steps much like his evil clone had seconds before. Within moments, he turned to smoke himself and raced off in the direction his clone and Yumi had gone in. It wouldn’t be too hard to find them; Yumi wouldn’t get far and his clone could not outrun him either. William had mastered his power in a way that XANA wouldn’t have even dreamed – he was out of practice in a way and William was going to use that fact to his advantage. And he was right. Within moments he saw XANA-William’s smoke trail on Yumi’s heels and caught up to it with ease. Though he was keeping his eye on XANA-William, William took a second to glance at Yumi to see her glance back at the two of them. Panic and fear still resided on her face as she continue to run. Had this been some Krabe or even a Megatank, William knew she wouldn’t be as worried. But this was a manifestation of XANA himself and far more powerful. If they failed this mission XANA would get the codes from Ulrich and Aelita and even Yumi herself. Then he would be at full power; and William didn’t even want to think about what would happen then.

They were so close to Yumi now that they were just about able to touch her. A quick swipe of XANA-William’s sword would devirtualize Yumi in no time. William had to stop it. She needed to get to that tower. Besides, he kind of owed that much to her. Then he saw it. There was a quick veer from XANA-William toward his smoke trail. He reacted and immediately veered toward his clone himself. XANA was getting ready to emerge and do just what William predicted. He couldn’t have that. He had to stop him.

It was as if he were looking in the mirror as he emerged from out of his supersmoke; a dark, tainted one. He saw himself – his XANAfied self - emerge simultaneously. The smirk that had resided on his face earlier was, for a brief second, full of surprise. He hadn’t expected William to gain on him, had he? With so much forward momentum going and so little space between them, the two Williams couldn’t help but crash into one another. The impact, William found, was so hard that both of them literally bounced off one another and flew backward on their backs. Even though Jeremie said nothing, he couldn’t help but wonder just how many life points he had just lost with that move. But William didn’t care – he just wanted this clone to get out of there and never return. 

He gritted his teeth as he landed and glanced over at Yumi to see how far away from the tower she was. There was still quite a distance he realized and she had stopped to see what was going on. Before he could tell her to run, she turned on her heels and continued to do so. She would need just a bit more time before she could get there and William was prepared to give her that time. As quickly as he could manage, he grabbed his sword and got to his feet. He focused on the evil clone in front of him with a look on his face that mocked William. In his head he could hear the voice again, whispering things into his mind.

_You failed. You chose them over yourself. You are now knowingly letting them deceive you. You’re a fool, and you will never be able to stop me. You will fail. She’ll never get to that tower._

He was sick of the voice casting doubts into his mind. It was going to end. He wouldn’t listen to it anymore; he was tired of it. Yumi was right; he was stronger than that voice and he wasn’t going to let it cast doubts within him any longer.

William charged the clone who only smirked. It was going to end then and there but that smirk was disconcerting. William brought his sword down, intent on crashing it down on the clone’s head and devirtualizing it. But, much like with Yumi earlier, XANA-William merely sidestepped the attack. With nothing to stop the force of the blade, William felt it pull him off balance and left him completely open. It was no surprise to him when XANA-William elbowed him, catching him in the rib cage, and sending him flying through the air. Again. He felt the sword go flying out of his grasp yet again as his side hit the ground hard before rolling over onto his stomach. Once more he felt a slight bit of pain. How many life points did he have left? Probably not many if the punch cost him fifty. That elbow had to have cut out another twenty at least.

He couldn’t move. _See? You failed. You’re pathetic and useless even in combat. No wonder they didn’t want you around in the first place._ The voice again was invading his thoughts and he couldn’t seem to push them out. _No_ , he thought instead. _I haven’t failed. Not yet. Not while I’m on Lyoko. I will do everything I can to keep her safe. She may not return my feelings but she’s still my friend and I will do everything I can to protect her._

William heard the slow, deliberate sound of footsteps behind him and knew that XANA-William was there. He would have to move unless he wanted to be devirtualized and he just couldn’t let that happen. Yumi was strong and could defeat XANA, William knew that, but he didn’t want to let her do that alone. He was going to be there for her. He was going to help her. He struggled to his hands and knees. Physically he was alright but mentally William realized just how exhausted he was and it was effecting his performance. But he had to stand. He just had to.

He felt XANA-William’s foot on his back. Wiliam gritted his teeth as he tried to push the weight off of him, but it only came down harder. His arms and legs shook and quickly gave out and he face-planted back to the ground. Once more he tried to rise, but the weight held him down, unyielding. He wasn’t going to get free. His head moved up so that he could see where Yumi was. She was closer to the tower but still far enough away. He just had to buy her a few more seconds, then she would be inside the tower. He just had to. But he couldn’t reach his sword and he couldn’t move. XANA could devirtualize him within a millisecond and still catch her, but he couldn’t move. He was just far too exhausted.

The blow that he thought would end his time on Lyoko never came. Instead he felt the weight leave his back and, glancing up, he saw the familiar trail of XANA’s supersmoke heading directly toward Yumi. With a sick feeling in his gut William realized that he was going to catch up to her before she could get into the tower. He had to do something and quickly. On his hands and knees he quickly reached for his sword and, without even bothering to stand, he himself used his power to turn himself into smoke and race toward Yumi and XANA. 

The situation was bordering on desperate. He went as fast as his power was able to go but XANA had the lead on him. Would he be able to get to him in time? He had to… _I just have to!_

_“You’re our friend William…”_

She was right there. He almost had him.

_“My friend.”_

XANA-William moved past her and veered in front of her. William could hear Yumi’s gasp and watched as she stopped dead in her tracks. XANA-William appeared in front of her, sword raised, ready to strike her. Yumi wouldn’t even have time to grab her fans for defense. _Almost there…_

XANA-William was shouting, completely focused on Yumi, intent on destroying her. He wasn’t paying attention as William appeared beside him and, using the same trick as before, used his speed and momentum to knock the imposter completely off balance. The evil clone fell away from Yumi and to the ground, his sword clattering away from him and out of reach. He was defenseless and there would not be a way to escape William this time. He had won.

_No more. I’m sick of hearing your voice XANA. You’re wrong. They accept me, they want me in their group…I’m their friend. They don’t just want me in the group as backup. They see me as a friend and I see them as mine. We may have had a rocky start but it’s only served to better all of us and strengthen our bond. And I won’t let you convince me ever again otherwise. Goodbye, XANA. You can’t hurt me anymore._

William brought up his sword and, in that moment of clarity and determination, swung tit, allowing an energy blast to come off of it. He hadn’t been able to use that ability since his rescue from XANA’s clutches, never of his own free will. Yet there it was, racing downward toward XANA who could only put his hand up in a pathetic attempt to try to block it. His attempt at shielding himself was futile of course and William heard his voice – XANA’s voice – shout as he was devirtualized. The voice echoed a moment longer before it disappeared completely.

Then there was silence. For the first time since his possession his thoughts were normal. They were calm. And they weren’t menacing. It was peaceful and William couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his face. He was _free_.

“Glad you’re back,” he heard Yumi say behind him. Turning around he saw a smile on her own face. The pain wasn’t there anymore when he looked at her. He could look at her and see their friendship, not a lost love. Would it always be that way? Probably not. He understood that. But for now he had won and he was going to celebrate his victory.

Then he realized that she still wasn’t in the tower and they had their friends to save. He motioned toward the red tower. “Alright Yumi, it’s time to finish the job.”

He moved his body so that he was completely facing her and watched as she moved toward the tower. As she was walking, he couldn’t help but glance back at where XANA was devirtualized. That voice. It was gone, but would it stay that way? Would it come back or was he finally free? He heard Yumi enter the tower and glanced back to watch her as she disappeared into its walls. Perhaps the voice would come back; in fact he was certain that it would, but even if it did he knew that he had friends to help him out. He could go to them and talk to them about it and he knew that they would listen. Maybe they wouldn’t understand but they would be there anyway. They would help him fight his demons just like he helped them fight their own. They would be there for him and he would be there for them. Another smiled played on his face as he felt himself being broken apart, virtual bit by bit. Devirtualized and brought back to earth. For the first time since his rescue he felt accepted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a couple more chapters to be added that extend beyond where the episode left off. Keep an eye out for them!


	6. Chapter 6

The weight of the world tugged at William as the scanner door opened, revealing Yumi in the opposite scanner. There was so much that he wanted to say to the girl, but he would have to do that later. At that moment, he was so exhausted that he wasn’t sure that he could string together a real sentence. He took a step out of the scanner and nearly collapsed to the ground. His hand shot out and he grabbed the scanner to hold him steady.

“Are you alright?” Yumi asked as she took a step toward him. Then another and another until she was beside him.

William nodded. “Just tired.” It was all he could say. He felt Yumi’s arm encircle his torso and pull his left arm across her shoulders.

“Here, let me help you.” She said. William normally would have protested but he wasn’t sure that he would be able to walk alone.

“Thanks,” he said instead, grateful for her help. Physically the battle hadn’t been any worse than any other time he had been on Lyoko; in fact in terms of physicality it had been slightly on the easier side. It was the mental warfare that seemed to take its toll on him, but he knew that he’d be alright. 

The two of them hobbled into the elevator without any words being spoken, but this time William didn’t find it awkward or unpleasant. For the first time in a while he enjoyed her company without the accompanying heartache. If all they could ever be was friends, well, he would gladly fill that role to her. Would that erase his love toward her? No. But it was that same love that would allow him to be there for her whenever she needed him. And, if one day she saw him as more than just a friend, well, he would be okay with that too.  
They entered the elevator and Yumi hit the button. The elevator closed as they turned around to face the doors. William felt as though he’d be able to sleep for two weeks, and at that point in time he’d be willing to do just that.

“I wonder if we got there in time?” Yumi voiced her thoughts, breaking the silence and interrupting his own.

William then thought to the others – Ulrich and Aelita. XANA’s mind manipulation had severely thrown them off course. If he had gotten more codes then wasn’t he to blame? That voice…. “How could I have been so stupid?”

The elevator lurched as he spoke and he felt his knees shake, threatening to buckle underneath him. Yumi must have felt the shift because she pulled him so that he was putting more of his weight on her.

“Don’t talk like that,” she scolded him. “It’s no one’s fault but XANA’s. He got into your head…that’s what XANA does. Trust me, you aren’t the first to fall victim to his mind games.”  
He had heard tales about some of the tricks that XANA had pulled with the group in order to split them up. Some of these tales were told to him by the group, some by XANA himself. It was true; XANA had a knack for getting inside their heads, twisting their thoughts and emotions until they were full of darkness. Wasn’t that what XANA had just done to him?

Before he could formulate a response, the elevator stopped and the doors opened into the lab. Jeremie was still sitting in his computer chair, but it was turned so that he was facing them as they walked in. Yumi helped William walk inside, but he took back some of the burden of his own weight. Slowly his strength was returning to him.

“Are you alright William?” Jeremie asked. William just nodded in reply.

“Any word from the others?” Yumi asked, her voice rushed and definitely full of worry. William couldn’t blame her; he really wanted to know the outcome as well.

“I just got off the phone with Odd,” Jeremie said. “He hasn’t seen them yet but he’s going to go find them and find out.”

“I hate not knowing,” Yumi said as she helped William sit down on the edge of the holosphere system.

“Me too,” Jeremie replied. William sat and stared at his feet. Though Yumi’s words echoed in his brain, he just couldn’t help but feel slightly responsible for what happened.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. It was sincere; he really was sorry for what had happened.

“It’s not your fault William,” Jeremie replied, echoing Yumi’s own thoughts earlier. “No one’s to blame but XANA. Listen, we understand. It has happened to us too. No one blames you for any of this and you most certainly shouldn’t be blaming yourself.”

“That’s what I told him…” Yumi added as she sat down beside him. William glanced up at her and saw her flash him a small smile; a smile that said not to worry and that everything was going to be alright but he could see the worry it masked.

Jeremie’s phone rang. William felt all his muscles tense.

“Odd? How are they?” Jeremie said into his mobile.

There was a pause as William and Yumi listened in nervous anticipation. The answer that he both wanted and was dreading to hear was being spoken at that very moment. What was the outcome going to be?

“Yes? Alright. I’ll tell Yumi and William.” Jeremie’s face didn’t betray any emotion as he hung up the phone. He looked down for a moment and took a deep breath. William felt his nerves intensify two-fold. That couldn’t be good, could it? Just when William thought he couldn’t handle the silence any longer, a smile broke out on Jeremie’s face. “It’s alright. The specter didn’t touch either Aelita or Ulrich.”

“Thanks goodness!” Yumi breathed a sigh of relief as William did the same. They were alright and XANA hadn’t gotten any more powerful. They had saved their friends after all.  
Jeremie jumped up out of his chair. “Come on. I want to talk to Odd. Did you know that he found a weakness in the specters? Their molecular structure is disturbed by the electromagnetic waves of the sound system at Kadic. I’d like to talk to him about what he did with that information.”

“Really? Well that’s certainly good to know,” Yumi said as she stood and reached down to help William stand as well.

William grabbed her hand and let her help pull him up but didn’t accept her help walking. He was already beginning to feel better and would be able to walk on his own, albeit slowly. “Huh…guess Odd’s plan wasn’t all that lame.”

Beside him he heard Yumi chuckle as the three warriors made it back to the elevator. Jeremie hit the button as the elevator door closed behind them. With a quick glance around, William could see that they were just about as exhausted as he was. The day’s events had taken their toll on everyone. Having two XANA attacks didn’t help matters any. No one spoke as the elevator took them to the surface, back to the main floor of the factory. 

“Oh no!” Yumi’s voice broke the silence as they walked up the stairs, up to the top level of the factory and onto the bridge.

“What?” Jeremie asked, his voice full of concern. Obviously, after a mission like that, all three of them were still slightly on edge.

“William and I have class in fifteen minutes! We really shouldn’t skip it if we can help it,” came Yumi’s reply.

William groaned. Just what he wanted to go to…math class. Talk about a subject that was liable to put him to sleep when he was at full energy. But Yumi was right, if they could avoid missing class, they really should. Who knew when they’d need to do skip in the future? 

“Alright, we’ll meet you after class,” Jeremie said to the two of them. 

Yumi nodded and turned toward William. “You up for a little exercise?”

“No,” came his reply. “But do we have a choice?”

Yumi smiled at him as she took off running. “I’ll race you.” No fair, William thought. Not only was he exhausted, but he was competitive and she knew it. She knew he would take her up on that challenge. William’s own speed picked up as he ran, but he trailed significantly behind her.

She made it to the sewer entrance with enough time to call back: “Hey, I thought you said you were faster than I was?” before she disappeared into the tunnel. Oh, so she’s going to play that game, huh? Well, so be it!

He made it to the sewer’s entrance only seconds after her just in time to see Yumi jump down off the ladder and take off running in the tunnels. She was laughing. “Keep up William!” she called, her voice echoing down the tunnels. 

William’s sides were already beginning to burn from the added exertion on his body, but the race was on and he would win it. Maybe. He quickly turned his body and climbed down the ladder as fast as he could, jumping off of it before getting to the last step. It probably wasn’t the best idea since he was still so exhausted because the next thing he knew, he felt himself falling to the ground. There was no stopping himself and he fell sideways down on the concrete. “Ow!” he shouted but began to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He lost the race and he knew it. There would be no way to catch up and, even if there was a chance, he wasn’t sure that he could stop laughing about what he had just done.

He could hear Yumi’s footsteps slow then stop before picking up again. Glancing up, he saw her running back toward him, concern on her face. “Are you hurt?” she asked as she stopped beside him and reached down to help him. 

“Just my pride,” William responded with a smirk. “Yeah, I’m alright. Nothing’s broken. But I think this means that you won the race.”  
His sides were heaving as he gasped for oxygen. He wasn’t out of shape by any means, just tired. William knew he was done racing. Luckily though it wouldn’t take that long to get to class from where they were if they moved quickly enough. 

“Perhaps we should just jog?” Yumi commented as she helped him to his feet. William nodded, but said nothing in reply. He was going to sleep so well that night. “Otherwise we’re going to be late.”

“Sure,” William replied hoping that his body wouldn’t give out on him completely. Much to his surprise and satisfaction, they made it to the other end of the sewer without anymore incidents and climbed the ladder into the fresh air. William breathed in deeply as he went first up the ladder and climbed out of the entrance. Yumi was behind him and in seconds they were jogging back toward the academy.

“Ishiyama! Dunbar!” Jim’s voice echoed across the path in the woods a few yards away from the tunnel entrance. “You’re going to be late for class!”

“Yeah Jim,” Yumi replied as they continued to jog passed him. Was he doing Yoga again? “Just lost track of time as we were exercising. We’re heading to class right now!”

“Great initiative! Keep up the good work!” Jim called behind them as they disappeared from view. William couldn’t believe just how many times they ended up running into him the past couple of weeks. It was like he was in the woods every chance he could get.

The school came into view just as they heard a bell ring. Five minutes, they had five minutes to get to class. William knew they’d make it but barely. Within moments they were inside the school grounds and slowed down to a walk. Both were panting heavily and wanted to give themselves a second to catch their breath as they moved toward their classroom. Seconds before the bell rang, signifying the beginning of their class, Yumi and William walked inside and sat down at the back of the class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 more chapter to go!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter! Thanks so much for reading!

**A\N: Spoilers for "Codeless" inside!**

xXxXxXx

The lecture was boring and William was thankful that every so often Yumi would elbow him to make sure that he was still awake. Multiple times, though, he wasn’t and the elbowing woke him up. He hoped the teacher wouldn’t notice how much he was struggling to focus on the lesson, but she never called on him. Before he knew it (probably because he fell asleep), the bell rang signifying the end of their class. He hoped Yumi was able to take some notes that he could later borrow because he had not been able to keep his eyes open and, even if he had been able to, he was sure that he would not have been able to concentrate on it anyway. All thoughts seemed to have escaped his mind for the time being, and he was okay with that.

“Well, that was fun,” Yumi whispered sarcastically to William as they both stood up from their chairs. William’s muscles were already stiff and his knees popped as he stretched out. A nice, hot shower would be in order before bed…that was, if he could make it that long. 

“Oh! Yumi!” a voice called behind them. William and Yumi both turned to see Anais Fiquet looking in their direction. “Hey, can I ask you a couple of questions about the history exam coming up?”

“Sure,” Yumi said back to the girl and turned back to William. “Shouldn’t take long. Why don’t you get out of here and get some sleep? Looks like you could use it.”

William shrugged. “Sure.” He grabbed his book and assorted school supplies and stuffed them in his backpack as he watched Yumi walk over toward the blonde haired girl. He was hoping to have a couple of moments to talk about what had happened on Lyoko, but that would have to wait it seemed. But still, the idea of sleep did seem inviting and perhaps some time alone would be good for him. Things might have gotten sorted out on Lyoko, but that didn’t mean it was all cleared up in his mind. Yes, it was definitely better but not clear.

He walked out of the classroom and out of the door, turning down the corridor. The events of the mission began to filter into his mind. He was still angry that he allowed himself to be manipulated by XANA once more. Yumi and Jeremie were understanding, yes, but they didn’t understand what it was like to be a puppet to XANA with no control over which string was pulled and what action resulted from it. He hated that feeling so much and it had happened again.

William’s face was hard as the thoughts came into his mind. The voice was gone, yes, but that didn’t necessarily mean the thoughts were all happy rainbows and butterflies either. He still had so much to learn and deal with. 

“William!” Yumi’s voice startled him as he heard her run up to him. That had been quick. He stopped walking and turned toward her. She caught up to him and stopped running, panting slightly from the added exertion of the day’s events. “I forgot…I wanted to thank you. Without you, we were goners.”

He was sleepy and some of that self doubt had already seeped back into his head. Her words took a few moments to register in his mind. William looked at her for a moment, nodding his head slightly before she spoke again.

“Don’t you think we’re a good team?”

Team. He liked hearing her say that. He felt a smirk play on his face. “A pretty good one,” came his response. It was true, he and Yumi did well together, but if they were going to be a great team, they still had much to learn. William was confident, though, that they would. 

He heard a commotion coming from the hallway on his left. He glanced inside to see Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich standing outside a door. As William glanced over, he saw Odd come from the other side, the principal’s office of course, looking dejected. William saw Yumi walk over toward the group and he followed suit. Something Odd had done, probably during the specter attack, had gotten him into trouble. William couldn’t wait to hear what he had done.

“So?” Aelita asked as Odd closed the door.

“Six hours of detention and some community service,” Odd replied.

“That’s bad.” Ulrich added in. William was definitely curious as to what Odd did to have resulted in such a harsh punishment, but he knew he’d find out sooner rather than later.  
“That bunker will cost me a lot after all,” Odd said, his voice still low.

“Maybe, but without you, Aelita and Ulrich would have lost all their remaining codes.” Yumi added from beside William. Though neither really knew the story, Odd would have had to have done something to help. In all that time XANA was getting inside William’s head, the specter would have been able to get to Aelita and Ulrich had it not been for whatever Odd had done.

“This whole idea of ‘codeless’ and bunker was lame.” Odd added in. William still couldn’t disagree with that statement. It was pretty silly, but if it worked this time around well, then that was all that mattered.

“That’s right,” Aelita affirmed but continued on. “But you only did what everyone should always do: protect the others, no matter what.”

William glanced over at Yumi and saw her nod. A small smile tugged at his face. He had done that; he had protected her when she needed it. Judging by Aelita’s statement, he realized that the others would do the same for him. There were no more doubts in his mind. They would protect him just like he would protect them.

“So, if I got you correctly, you’re all going to help me with my community work?” Odd said, his face flashing with a bit of the oddness that William had grown to know, but not necessarily love. 

“Well, it depends.” William interjected. “What is it?”

They would protect one another, they never agreed to help each other with community service. 

Odd closed his eyes and began rattling off his list of things he would have to do for his community service. “Cleaning the graffiti in the toilets…”

Jeremie and Aelita began to walk away as soon as Odd closed his eyes and opened his mouth. Yumi and William shook their heads and began to follow suit. William didn’t need to hear that especially since it was obvious no one was going to be willing to help.

“…Helping in the canteen for a week…”

William heard Ulrich shuffle and move away from Odd as well.

“…removing the chewing gum from the physics classroom…running around the stadium ten times…”

William wasn’t sure whether or not Odd stopped listing off his responsibilities because they were done, or because he realized that the rest of the group had walked away from him. The next thing William heard as he began walking down the corridor was Odd shouting after them.

“Hey, my friends! Come back! Come back my friends!” Odd ran back into the group and joined back with them. “Not cool guys!”

A laughter echoed across the remaining members of the group – William included – as the small boy pouted. He’d get over it. Eventually.

“So, who’s hungry?”

Yup. He was already over it. The group let out a collective groan and looked at Odd. “What?” he asked. “Hey, while the three of you,” he motioned to Yumi, William, and Jeremie, “…were having fun on Lyoko, we were working out butts off trying to stay away from that crazy specter.”

“It wasn’t all fun and games on Lyoko either, Odd,” Jeremie replied.

“Anything but,” Yumi muttered under her breath. William could only nod. No doubt Odd was going to be curious as to what transpired on Lyoko, but William really didn’t want to explain it to him. In fact, he only really wanted to talk to Yumi, and maybe Jeremie, about what happened. He wasn’t ready to let the others in just yet.

“Well, let’s talk about over some food. I’m starving!” Odd insisted.

“Hey, you guys go ahead. I need to talk to William about some things,” Yumi said to the group. Everyone looked shocked but probably no one more so than William himself. Out of the corner of his eye, Odd made a kissy face at them which Ulrich quickly stopped him with an elbow jab to the boy’s ribs. William moved his attention away from them and onto Yumi.

“Alright,” Aelita said. “Meet us back here if you’re not too late.”

“We will,” Yumi replied as she glanced at William and motioned him to follow her. He obliged as the two of them walked away from the group and into the courtyard. William said nothing as he followed her, but knew that she was going to talk about what happened on Lyoko. He had a couple of things he wanted to say to her as well. And to Jeremie, but he could catch Einstein later. 

She moved toward their bench and sat down, motioning him to join her. He sat down opposite her, giving her space in between them. Then he waited. He wanted to know what she had to say yet at the same time he felt a certain amount of dread coming with it. Couldn’t he just go to sleep instead?

“You know, that XANA clone said a lot of things…” Yumi started off. It was a weird way to start a conversation, but he wasn’t going to say anything about it. Their situation wasn’t exactly “normal” by any stretch of the imagination.

“Yeah,” it was the only word he could think of to reply to her.

“And, when he was speaking to you, I couldn’t help but wonder something. How did he get to you so quickly and so easily? Then I realized it. He was telling you things you already knew yourself…the things you were already thinking, wasn’t he?”

William thought about that question for a moment before nodding slightly. “Kind of. I mean some of the thoughts were mine, but he twisted them.”

“He’s good at that.” Yumi added under her breath. She paused another moment as if searching for the right thing to say next. “You know, none of what he said was true.”  
“Well, yeah, kind of,” William stammered. The situation wasn’t as cut and dried as Yumi was trying to make it seem. It was complicated; he was complicated and so were his thoughts and feelings. “It’s…well it’s hard to explain without knowing what happened to me when I was being controlled by XANA.”

There was a shocked look on her face, a look that reminded William that no one knew about his experiences under XANA’s control. Well, no one but Aelita who herself had been possessed by XANA a couple of times to destroy Lyoko. And, aside from Aelita whom he had confided in a time or two, no one else knew that he remembered what XANA forced him to do while he was possessed. 

“You…remember?” she asked, confirming his thoughts.

William nodded slightly, letting his gaze travel from Yumi to the ground underneath his feet. He shuffled them a little not really wanting to talk about it and hoping that she wouldn’t ask him to go into detail about it.

“But I thought you said you couldn’t remember anything?”

“Not at first,” he replied. “But piece by piece the memories came back. Sometimes it was in the form of a nightmare, other times something I saw or heard triggered a memory to surface. It hasn’t been pleasant.”

“I guess not…”

William sighed and shuffled his foot along the dirt-covered concrete at his feet, trying to figure out the best way to tell her what had happened a few hours ago on Lyoko without going into detail about what happened to him during his possession. He wasn’t ready to delve that information to her just yet and would have much rather talk about it with Aelita, whom he knew could understand. 

“You see…XANA let me see and hear everything he made me do,” he struggled to explain to her. He rubbed the back of his head as he spoke knowing full well that he was beginning to divulge some of his deepest, darkest secrets to the woman he loved. “And…whenever he wasn’t attacking you guys…um…well he liked to use my own voice to tell me awful things.”  
He never realized just how hard it would be to tell her all of this. His voice quivered and often faltered as he spoke. He just wanted to end the conversation then and there, but he owed her an explanation about what happened on Lyoko. That didn’t mean he had to divulge every little bit of detail of what happened to him, William realized, and no one expected him to. 

Yumi didn’t press him to continue and for that he was grateful. Perhaps she saw just how difficult it was for him to talk about his experience. He glanced up at her for only a brief second to see that she was watching him, her face almost unreadable. His eyes darted back to the ground below him but they remained unfocused.

“He’d tell me things about how foolish I was to get caught. Perhaps he was right. But then it got worse. He’d point out things you guys said or did – like how you referred to me as if I were the one trying to hurt you instead of XANA.” He paused a moment when he heard Yumi’s breath catch. 

“We never meant it like…”

“I know,” William didn’t want her to feel guilty about what had happened back then. That wasn’t the goal of him speaking with her. “But it hurt none-the-less. He used that against me. It was his favorite weapon. Then XANA started telling me that I would never be wanted, and you guys would never understand…he started ripping away any and all shreds of hope I had left. And he said it all using my own voice.”

He glanced back up at Yumi for a moment and he could see that she was beginning to understand more about what had happened to him with XANA on both occasions. He watched as she moved her hand up before hesitating a second. It was as if she were debating whether or not she should do whatever it was that she was about to do. Seconds later, she decided what it was that she was going to do and William felt her hand on his shoulder. Unlike on Lyoko, he didn’t fling it off of him or even pull away. He moved his head so that he turned and faced her.

“William, I’m so sorry…” 

He nodded. “That voice still haunts me. It sounds kind of crazy, I know, but sometimes I can’t tell if it’s my own voice or still XANA’s. I just don’t know. So, when XANA’s William clone kept saying those things, even though I could see him, I couldn’t tell if it were my voice again or XANA’s.” William sighed and shook his head as Yumi’s hand fell away. “I know it sounds crazy. Maybe I am crazy. I don’t know.”

“You’re not.”

William sat back against the bench and looked out at the school all around him. When he stepped foot inside Kadic Academy for the first time, he never expected his life to ever end up the way it had. In some regards he was glad, but in others…not so much. If nothing else good came out of the entire ordeal, William knew that, at least, he had gained friends that he would have for the rest of his life. Even if they all went their separate ways, they would forever be connected. And for that, he was grateful.

“I’m so sorry Yumi,” he said after remaining quiet for a few moments. “I shouldn’t have let him get into my head like that. I didn’t mean for it to go that far.” William quickly moved his head to face her. “And, well, you know how I feel about you. So I want you to know that I would never ever do anything to you that would put you in harm’s way. I’m your friend and I will always be there to help you.”

He watched as Yumi’s hand moved once more, this time not going to his shoulder, but rather to his hands which were clasped tightly together in his lap. She didn’t reach down to hold them, but rather, put her hand on his. A small smile rested on her face. “I know. And what Jeremie said was true as well. You’re our friend, my friend, and I’m sorry it took so long for all of us to realize how important you are to us.” She paused a moment before continuing on. “And what I said on Lyoko was true too. You are strong enough to resist him. I know it.”

 _Strong_. The word had played in his mind in multiple different fashions and for many reasons. He wanted to be strong, to help the group. Wasn’t that why his virtual avatar had that huge sword? And then Yumi’s words echoed in the back of his mind: _“And you’re not like us. You’re not…strong enough.”_ Yumi had said that to him, after they had rescued him from XANA. He had wanted so desperately to go back to Lyoko and show them that he was capable of fighting with them instead of against them. He even allowed them to “bench” him in the factory with Jeremie to show that he wasn’t just trying to play the hero again. _Of course, then XANA possessed me again anyway…_

But now, despite everything that had happened, Yumi was telling him that he was strong. It was as though she were recanting her original statement and that pleased William beyond words. A smirk played on his face.

“You’re right, I am.” Though he wasn’t sure he completely believed it, he couldn’t help but say it. He felt some of his old spark coming back to him and it felt great.  
He watched as Yumi shook her head. “Oh great, you’re starting to sound like your old self.”

“Well that’s good,” Odd’s voice traveled through the courtyard causing both Yumi and William to turn to face the small group walking in their direction. “You were sulking worse than Ulrich, and I didn’t even think that was possible!”

He saw Ulrich jab at Odd once more. “Hey, not cool.”

A collective laugh erupted in the group in which quickly Yumi and William himself joined in with. _You know, Yumi’s right. These are my friends and, though there will still be many obstacles ahead of me, I know that they’ve got my back._ The voice would be back, that much he was certain, but he could handle it. He was strong enough; he was strong enough not to fall back into XANA’s control. That voice would always be there, William realized as he glanced around the group. It would probably never go away, but at least he could fight against it. They had come so far together in only a few short months. Now he had the support of those around him. Their voices would drown out XANA’s inside his mind, and that would get him through.


End file.
